Parents sue after student is punished for using AI on school projects in Massachusetts

Parents of a Massachusetts student are suing their son’s school administrators and teachers after he was punished for using it artificial intelligence on a project.

The lawsuit filed in federal court by Dale and Jennifer Harris says the student suffered from “arbitrary grading” and was not selected for the National Honor Society “because of this alleged violation of academic integrity.” The parents said the school’s student handbook doesn’t outline a policy for AI use, so it’s not fair to punish him for it.

Parents want the student’s grade to increase

The lawsuit calls on the court to order the school to raise the student’s Social Studies grade to a “B” and remove all academic sanctions related to AI use from his record. They also don’t want his use of AI to be characterized as “cheating” or “academic dishonesty.”

“He is applying to elite colleges and universities given his high level of academic and personal achievement,” the lawsuit said. “Absent the grant of injunctive relief by this court, the student will suffer irreparable harm that is imminent.”

“This is a boy that I truly believe can do anything he sets his mind to,” said mother Jenifer Harris. “He looks at some of the best schools in the country and his top school, his first choice, is Stanford.”

Harris is a writer and the boy’s father is a teacher. In one of his honors courses, he was paired with another student. They were assigned to write an article about a famous person and his civil actions. He and his partner chose Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. During the process, they used AI to take notes and create an outline, not to write the article itself. WBZ-TV asked Harris if she thought this was a hoax.

“Absolutely not. First of all, the school didn’t have a policy about it yet,” says Harris.

The school’s response

“I know my son has defended himself to the school by saying that AI is not cheating, and that it is not plagiarism. He said if you look it up, it is well documented that AI is owned by the person who has it generated,” says Harris.

In response, the school had the two students redo the assignment separately and on a different topic.

“We found out in the court documents that they would never give him a grade higher than 65, which is strange because the other guy got a 75 on his paper,” Harris continues.

As a result of the incident, her son has been unable to complete college applications due to the unresolved nature of the situation. It prevents him from early or ongoing admission to major schools.

However, the NHS has reconsidered its decision.

“We’ve already gotten something out of it, which is his induction into the National Honors Society,” said the family’s attorney, Peter Farrell.

Farrell said the organization initially denied him because of the AI ​​situation. He said an investigation found that seven other accepted students had faced disciplinary action, including the use of AI. The organization has since let him reapply.

The lawsuit names the superintendent, school administrators, social studies teachers and the Hingham School Committee as defendants. A spokesperson for Hingham Public Schools said the district would not comment on the lawsuit “to respect the privacy of the student involved and due to the ongoing litigation.”

AI use in schools

The student’s parents also want the court to order the suspects “to undergo training in the use and implementation of artificial intelligence in the classroom, in schools and in the educational environment.”

CBS News reported last year that while some school districts have banned students from using tools such as ChatGPTother teachers are encouraging students to use AI features to do their work.

“The reason for this is that the MBA students I teach will enter the workforce in about 10 months, often working at companies and organizations that encourage employees to take advantage of generative AI tools,” says Columbia Sociology Business School. Professor Dan Wang told CBS MoneyWatch.